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Show Report

by Hywel Davies on 22 January 2010.

For winter Owens remained loyal to his ideals but elongated his sliced silhouette to create longer and leaner pale faced warriors.

As an American in Paris, Rick Owens always attracts colossal audiences to his shows. His futuristic approach to menswear through his asymmetric cuts and monotones have been distinctive for several years - but recently his clothes, specifically his leather jackets, have gathered momentum and popularity, inspiring fellow designers to adopt Owens' signature dark side. The designer is therefore challenged every season to move his look forward, repell the copy cats, but retain his own design identity. For winter Owens remained loyal to his ideals but elongated his sliced silhouette to create longer and leaner pale faced warriors. A raised shoulder shape and extra long coats referenced Margiela, but the angular platform boots made Owen's collection meaner and more menacing as the models towered in their armour. No real surprises from the sober man of steel, but the soundtrack boomed 'I'm feeling ugly' and seemed to hint at an underlying sense of humor that is rarely evident in Owen's collections. There is something distinctively unsettling about Owen's presentations with his long limbed models teettering down the blackened runway, but there is also something compelling at the same time - perhaps the fascination with macabre is relevant for the current gloomy times. Waisted trench coats, drop crotch harem pants and ribbed knit wear all endorsed the space age vision. The designers loyal followers will no doubt relish the harder, bolder, and colder looks from the original apocalyptic fanatic.